1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to manufacture of magnetic heads for data storage devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modem computer systems typically include a mass storage device such as a hard disk drive. Each hard disk drive typically includes a hard disk (or in some cases, multiple hard disks) which spins underneath a slider. A read/write head (or in some cases, a plurality of read/write heads) may be mounted on the slider, and the slider may in turn be mounted on an arm which may be actuated with respect to the disk, allowing data stored in magnetic disk media of the disk to be accessed via the read/write head (e.g., by reading magnetically stored data from or writing data magnetically to the disk media).
In some cases, the slider may also include one or more electronic lapping guides (ELGs) and a heater. The one or more ELGs have a resistance that varies (increases) as material is removed during a lapping process and thus may be used to monitor lapping during slider manufacturing. In other words, an ELG may be formed on the slider surface and the ELG resistance may be monitored in an effort to smooth the surface of the slider and establish the final dimensions of the slider. In some cases, the heater (also referred to as a thermal flyheight modulation heater) may be used to more precisely control the height at which the read/write head flies over the hard disk. For example, by heating a portion of the slider, thermal expansion may cause the slider to move closer to the hard disk surface, thereby enabling a fine adjustment of the slider's fly height and providing the ability to increase the sensitivity of the read/write head with respect to the hard disk.
In order to access the elements mounted on the slider (the read head, the write head, the heater, and the one or more ELGs), a plurality of contact pads may be provided on the slider and connected to the elements. Some of the contact pads and slider elements may be used during operation of the hard disk drive, e.g., the contact pads for the read head, write head, and heater may be used to perform disk access operations. However, some of the contact pads and slider elements may only be used during manufacture of the hard disk drive (e.g., the contact pads for the one or more ELGs). In some cases, the contact pads and slider elements utilized during manufacture of the hard disk drive may undesirably interfere with the contact pads and the slider elements which are utilized during operation of the hard disk drive (e.g., by being inadvertently electrically activated, e.g., due to a short, during operation of the hard disk drive).
Accordingly, what is needed are improved sliders and methods for manufacturing and operating sliders which prevent the contact pads and slider elements utilized during manufacture of the hard disk drive from interfering with the contact pads and the slider elements which are utilized during operation of the hard disk drive.